Our weekly round up of news and updates from across the sector
Cost of living crisis
The National Lottery Community Fund is continuing to make awards from the Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund to charities and community organisations struggling with increased demand. As detailed here, this includes projects tackling food poverty, homelessness and services offering financial advice. Grants can be used to cover project and core costs such as rent, utilities, staff and volunteers.
There are also details here of funding available to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations in England to improve their energy efficiency.
Charity Commission
Registrations data
Civil Society reports that Charity Commission data shows charity registrations are increasing after reaching a 33-year low. The data shows that 4,829 organisations in England and Wales were registered as charities in 2023, up from 4,021 in 2022, while the number of charities removed from the register fell from 5,918 to 4,522 in 2023. There were 191 mergers in 2023, which represents a large decrease from the 1,688 registered in 2022. The 2022 merger figures were high, mainly due to the merging of 1,279 Jehovah's Witness congregations into one charity, the Kingdom Hall Trust.
Governance
We've previously mentioned NPC's new step-by-step guide to help charities centre lived experience throughout their organisations. If you'd like to catch-up on the launch event, you can visit NPC's YouTube channel to watch the full recording.
Tax and VAT
Charity Tax Group has reported in its latest newsletter:
- HMRC has recently made some minor amendments to the 'Detailed guidance notes' in respect of the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. In Chapter 8, section 8.1 has been updated to clarify that top-up payments on chip and pin donations can be claimed. Section 8.3 has been updated to explain that records must be kept of chip and pin donations made through bank accounts and terminals to support GASDS claims.
- The Government DIY Housebuilder Scheme applies to the construction of a new building to be used for a 'relevant charitable purpose'. HMRC has published new guidance to help check if a claim for a VAT refund can be made using the scheme. As well as explaining how to make a claim, the guide makes clear that claims can now be made within six months of the building being completed (this was three months for buildings completed before 5 December 2023).
Audit
Charity Finance Group (CFG) reports that many charities have been affected by the shortage of availability in the audit market. It says that OSCR may be willing to be flexible if audit delays mean charities weren't able to file their accounts and annual return with OSCR before the end of 2023. CFG says charities can contact OSCR by email or by using the contact form on OSCR's website and that OSCR are reviewing charities in this situation on a case by case basis and may be able to help.
Sector General
New Year Honours list
This government announcement highlights those across the sector who have received honours for their work.
Community Ownership Fund
The government has detailed the latest organisations which have received funding under the Community Ownership Fund. The awardees in this round include heritage theatres. The next funding window is open for bids until 31 January 2024 and details can be found here.
Domestic economic abuse
On 20 December the government launched a new tool to help businesses and charities spot and tackle domestic economic abuse. The tool (which can be found here) aims to help call handlers recognise abuse when speaking to customers and clients, with specialist charities such as Surviving Economic Abuse on standby to offer training to interested organisations.
Climate change and environmental
Recycling waste electricals
The government has launched a consultation on the proposed improvements to the industry-funded scheme for recycling waste electricals. This follows a recent study which showed that around three-quarters of UK adults would recycle their electricals at their local supermarket, electrical retailer or charity retailer if it was available to them.
Energy efficiency and historic homes
The government has released its review into energy efficiency in historic homes and the challenges faced when retrofitting in conservation areas and listed buildings, such as planning barriers.
COP28 – a litany of loopholes?
David Hunter of Bates Wells shares his views in this article on the recent COP28 conference held in Dubai.
General election
NCVO is working with its members and ACEVO on a general election manifesto for the charity sector. You can share your thoughts with NCVO online or attend an upcoming feedback session:
Safeguarding
The Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel has expressed disappointment in the government's response to its recommendations coming out of its national review of safeguarding children with disabilities and complex health needs in residential settings. Seven out of nine recommendations have been accepted in principle only. There is a proposed 6 month review of progress which they state will be important to evaluate how well change is achieved.
Fundraising
Convictions for fraudulent fundraising
The Crown Prosecution Service has publicised successful convictions of seven people who collected money allegedly for charity but failed to pass the money on. The group mainly carried out bucket collections outside supermarkets. A total of approximately £500,000 was identified as cash deposits into the bank accounts of the group, of which less than 10 per cent was paid to the charities they said they were collecting for. All seven pleaded guilty to offences ranging from fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. All received prison sentences ranging from 18 months to 5 years. The CPS says that it has specialist teams to prosecute cases of serious fraud such as this and it will "seek to confiscate assets that the group gained from their criminal activity and put in place appropriate measures to prevent them offending in the future".
Philanthropy
UK Community Foundations has published its annual report, Philanthropy 2023. The report "investigates the root causes of the rise in demand for frontline services and the barriers that charities themselves are having to fight through to provide the necessary support." The report also refers to the long-term potential of 'place-based philanthropy', marking it as 'a valued addition' to public services in reducing systemic inequity and improving the quality of life in UK communities.
Trusts and Foundations
The Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) has published the latest briefing in its 'Leading in Uncertainty' series. These are aimed at trusts and foundations to help them better understand the challenges and realities facing charity leaders and give practical ideas of what they can do to help, such as offering more multi-year, unrestricted funding.
Also see below under Real Estate.
Data protection and freedom of information
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued an enforcement notice to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) for repeated failures to respond to Freedom of Information requests. GMP must publish an action plan detailing how it will respond to information requests in a timely manner and clear its backlog of late requests by July 2024. The force could be held in contempt of court if it fails to comply with these actions.
Public procurement and subsidy control
The Cabinet Office has published:
- A new Procurement Policy Note PPN 11/23: New Thresholds. Annex A sets out the new thresholds which apply since 1 Jan 2024 for the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011. When publishing notices under the UK regulations, the estimated contract value should continue to be provided exclusive of VAT. However, when the Procurement Act 2023 comes into effect, the estimated contract value must be provided inclusive of VAT.
- PPN 10/23: Taking account of a bidder's approach to payment in the procurement of major contracts. This was published in November 2023 and will replace PPN 08/21 from 1 April 2024.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has published a report, Competition in public procurement: Sixth Report of Session 2023-24, outlining its concerns around the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 by the government. Among other issues, the report expresses concerns about a lack of consideration by the government of the time, money and resources required to provide the commercial capabilities to successfully implement the Procurement Act 2023.
Company law
Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
We now have confirmation that certain changes under the new Act will be brought into force in March 2024. These include:
- Addresses: companies will be required to supply a registered email address and at all times have an appropriate physical address for their registered office, meaning they will not be able to rely on a PO box for the registered office address.
- Lawful purposes and activities: on incorporation, companies will have to confirm they are forming the company for a lawful purpose and each year confirm that the company's future activities will be lawful.
- Powers in relation to the register including: taking steps to clean it up (using data matching) and to scrutinise and reject information which appears to be incorrect or inconsistent with information on the register. Companies House will be able to annotate the register to let users know about potential issues with information.
- Strengthened checks on company names that may give a false or misleading impression to the public.
- Sharing data with other government departments and law enforcement agencies.
Real estate
The government is consulting on ways of improving the transparency of land ownership when trusts are involved in the ownership structure. The consultation asks for general views on how ownership of land can be more transparent and, specifically, options for widening access to trust information held on the Register of Overseas Entities established under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. The consultation applies to residential and commercial land. It closes on 21 February 2024.
Also see item about energy efficiency under Climate change and environmental above.
Scotland
Research by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations found that 71% of Scottish charities say finances are their biggest concern – a 24% rise in two years. The 'Scottish Third Sector Tracker' surveyed 715 charities, one-third of which had used their financial reserves in the past three months.
OSCR has published guidance on the Israel-Gaza conflict for Scottish charities.
Also see above under Audit.
Northern Ireland
CCNI has published information ahead of their annual public meeting on 31 January 2024, including the key theme for this year, which is cyber-crime.
CCNI's new traffic light system, which will indicate if a charity has submitted their accounts and reports on time, is now live. It has published some FAQs to help explain their system.
Public sector
The government has published non-statutory guidance on the public sector equality duty in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The guidance is intended to help public authorities understand the duty and replaces several pieces of 2011 guidance published by the Government Equalities Office. It:
- Covers what the duty is and who is bound by it.
- Sets out how to comply with the duty and how to demonstrate compliance with both the general and specific duties. It also deals with sanctions in the event of a failure to comply with the duty.
- Contains a "myth buster" section, which includes whether an equality impact assessment must be published in all cases.
Culture + Creative
The UK is to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. As part of this, a consultation has been launched to allow the public to nominate traditions to be included in a new register of cultural heritage in the UK. This could include celebrations such as pantomime and carol-singing and traditions such as cheese-rolling and male voice choirs of the Welsh valleys. The consultation is open until the end of February.
Health and social care
Visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices
We have previously flagged a government consultation on visiting in care homes, hospitals and hospices. Government has now published secondary legislation which puts obligations on care providers to facilitate visits both within and outside of their setting. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1402) will come into force on 6 April 2024.
Volunteers
The government is going to remove the requirement in England for certain volunteers in the health and social care sector to provide a full employment history before appointment. Currently this is required as appointing service providers have to make available a full employment history from volunteers to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as part of pre-employment check processes. There is an exception to this change for a small number of specific roles and circumstances, and the requirement to collect a full employment history will still apply in those cases. The government hasn't provided a timeframe for the change to be introduced.
Health and Care Act 2022 – new provisions in force
The Health and Care Act 2022 (Commencement No 8) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1431) have been made, bringing into force the following provisions of the Health and Care Act 2022 from 1 January 2024:
- Section 78 (regulations concerning patient choice) and Schedule 11 (undertakings by integrated care boards).
- Section 79 (procurement regulations).
- Section 80 (procurement and patient choice).
Welsh National Care Service
The Welsh Government has released a statement announcing that it has published an initial implementation plan for the creation of a National Care Service.
Health Impact Assessments in Wales
The Welsh Government has also published a consultation on proposals to mandate the use of Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in Wales by way of the draft Health Impact Assessment (Wales) Regulations. HIAs are assessments of the "likely effect, both in the short term and in the long term, of a proposed action or decision on the physical and mental health of the people of Wales or of some of the people of Wales" and were introduced under the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017. The consultation closes on 29 March 2024.
Also see above under Safeguarding.
Social enterprise
The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies (CICs) has published the Community Interest Companies Regulator Annual Report 2022 to 2023 (press release). The report outlines the regulator's activities for the period, including its financial information, and provides statistics showing the number of CICs that were approved, dissolved and converted, CIC case studies, and a breakdown of CICs by region.
Crowdfunding for social enterprise, the future of match funding and how to get it. Social Enterprise Mark CIC has published a blog from Bertie Herrtage, a 'Crowdfunding Coach', on what crowdfunding is and how it can help social enterprises by enabling a collaborative funding approach, with funders, the public and match funding.
Social investment / social impact investment
The UK development finance institution British International Investment (BII) has published a Roadmap setting out the steps it will take, as a publicly-owned body, to become more transparent (press release). The planned measures include improving disclosure in 2024 on BII's contribution to the UN SDGs and its investment impact measurements.
Funding the underfunded environment: how to invest where it's needed most. In this blog, Flora Charatan, a consultant at think-tank New Philanthropy Capital, considers the challenges of funding neglected environmental causes. In particular, Charatan notes the uneven distribution of funding and sets out three learning points for funders from a case study.
Faith based organisations
The government lists here the religious buildings which have benefited from the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme recently. It includes a reminder about how to apply for funding which is available until March 2025.
Education
Schools
Gender questioning children: draft schools and colleges guidance
In December we flagged that the Department for Education (DfE) had published its long awaited draft guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils questioning their gender in schools. Colleagues from our equality law and education teams have analysed the draft guidance and have drawn out some of the practical aspects which it addresses. For instance, in relation to uniforms the guidance states, "A child who is gender questioning should, in general, be held to the same uniform standards as other children of their sex." You can read their analysis, including on single sex toilets and changing facilities, sports, names and pronouns, and informing parents, here.
Mindy Jhittay, an equality law specialist in our Dispute Resolution team, comments: "The guidance, which covers areas that are untested in the courts, expresses concern about the impact of these important matters on children and young people. We expect that various organisations and individuals, including schools and colleges, teachers and leaders, parents and young people, charities and support groups, will have valuable experience and views. We encourage you to respond to the consultation on the content of the guidance and whether it will help to support considered and lawful decisions in relation to children and young people. It is open until 12 March at Gender questioning children: draft schools and colleges guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)."
British Sign Language
The subject content for the new British Sign Language GCSE has been published following its 12-week consultation (press release).
Attendance hubs
A DfE press release shows the government is pushing for improvements to school attendances in the upcoming year by increasing the number of attendance hubs and investing £15 million to expand the direct one-to-one support offered to persistently absent children and their families.
Ofsted inspections
Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted's new Chief Inspector, has begun his term by implementing mental health awareness training for inspectors which will delay the start to Ofsted school inspections to 22 January. He will also be hearing from parents and professionals in all Ofsted sectors about the strengths and weaknesses of their current approach, with particular focus on their response to Ruth Perry's death.
Turing Scheme
The DfE has published research exploring the effectiveness of the first year of the Turing Scheme, a programme enabling students to work and study abroad. This press release analysing the research shows that disadvantaged young people make up a large proportion of international study placements.
Further Education
This government announcement outlines the restrictions which have come into effect on student visas. These include changes to the dependent rules which mean there is a prohibition on bringing family members into the country unless the international student's course is a postgraduate research course or course with government funded scholarships.
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